Former Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull is set to make his official RIZIN debut on July 27 in Saitama, Japan, having recently signed with the promotion.
Pitbull previously competed in a RIZIN lightweight tournament in 2019 while representing Bellator. This time, he steps into the ring as a contracted RIZIN fighter to face Shunta Nomura.
During the 2019 tournament, the Brazilian earned knockout victories against Tatsuya Kawajiri and Luiz Gustavo before falling to Tofiq Musayev in the final. He later returned to Japan in 2023, where he knocked out the current lightweight champion, Roberto Satoshi.
Nomura is coming off a technical decision win over Luiz Gustavo in his RIZIN debut in March, improving his record to 9-2, including four knockouts.
The upcoming RIZIN event will feature title defenses for Bantamweight champion Naoki Inoue, who faces Ryuya Fukuda, and Super Atomweight champion Seika Izawa, who will compete against Yu Jin Shin.
Featherweight champion Razhabali Shaydullaev, who recently captured the title by knocking out Kleber Koike, is also slated to appear on the card against an opponent that is still to be announced.
Kleber Koike is also confirmed for the event in a rematch against Mikuru Asakura. Their first encounter in June 2021 saw Koike win via triangle choke. Asakura recently got back to his winning ways with a TKO victory over former champion Chihiro Suzuki.
Additional fights announced for the card include Masanori Kanehara vs. Ya-Man, Karshyga Dautbek vs. Kyoma Akimoto, and Moeri Suda vs. Noel.
